iMind - World Literature Quiz

Which twentieth century Welsh poet wrote 'A Child's Christmas in Wales?

Dylan Thomas in 1955

What was Scrooge's first name?

Ebenezer

Estragon and Vladimir are the two main characters of which play, voted in a Royal National Theatre poll as the most significant English language play of the 20th century?

Waiting for Godot

Which controversial novel's main characters are Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha? The novel was the 1988 Whitbread Award winner and Booker Prize finalist.

The Satanic Verses

Which famous children's book character was created by Michael Bond?

Paddington Bear

Which famous book title translated means "no place" or "place that does not exist"?

Utopia

William of Baskerville is the main character of which famous novel, later filmed?

The Name of the Rose (Il Nome Della Rosa) by Umberto Eco

In which novel, first published in 1912, are the main characters called John Clayton and Jane Porter who, eventually, have a son called Jack?

Tarzan of the Apes

Who wrote Pinocchio?

Carlo Collodi

What is the name of Sherlock Holmes' housekeeper?

Mrs Hudson

What experimental novel by an Argentine author invited the reader to choose between a linear and a non-linear reading of the chapters?

Rayuela (Hopscotch) by Julio Cortázar

According to the bible, who was the first Christian Martyr?

St Stephen

The band Steely Dan was named after something in William Burrough's novel 'Naked Lunch'. What?

A steam-powered sex toy

In the book by Henry Williamson, what kind of creature is Tarka?

An otter

Which famous playwright won an Oscar as well as a Nobel Prize?

George Bernard Shaw

Who created the fictional town of Middlemarch?

George Eliot

The Brontë sisters had a brother who was a poet and painter. What was his name?

Branwell

In P.G. Wodehouse's series of books, what is Jeeves' first name?

Reginald

Miguel de Cervantes died on the 23rd of April 1616 and William Shakespeare died on the 23rd of April 1616. However, they did not die on the same day. Why not?

Cervantes died on the 23rd of April in the Gregorian calendar and Shakespeare died on the 23rd of April in the Julian calendar which is the 3rd of May in the Gregorian calendar.

"Lyrical Ballads" is a collection of poems which first appeared in the year 1798. It was a joint effort by two of England's most famous poets. Which two?

William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge

In the poem "The Song of Hiawatha", what is the name of the river?

Gitche Gumee

In "The Taming of the Shrew", what was the name of the girl known as the shrew?

Kate (Katherine)

"In truth I know not why I am so sad; it wearies me; you say it wearies you." The opening lines of which Shakespeare play?

The Merchant of Venice

Where was Casanova from?

Venice

Which author's first names were John Ronald Reuel?

J.R.R. Tolkien

At what age do Adrian Mole's diaries start?

13 3/4 years old

In which novel does the character Major Major Major Major appear?

Catch-22

Which book, published in 1816, was subtitled 'The Modern Prometheus'?

Frankenstein

Becky Sharp is a character in which famous novel?

Vanity Fair

Which 1940s novel was originally titled 'The Last Man in Europe'?

1984 by George Orwell

Who wrote the novel 'The Brothers Karamazov'?

Fedor Dostoievski

In Milton's 'Paradise Lost', the word 'Pandemonium' is used for the first time. What does he refer to?

The dwelling place of all demons, the capital of Hell

In Mary Shelley's novel, what is Dr Frankenstein's first name?

Victor

Boccaccio's tales of the Decameron take place in the vicinity of which city?

Florence

Who said: 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all'?

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Which 1971 novel written by William Peter Blatty was turned into a classic horror film?

The Exorcist

Which Italian author wrote the classic 'The Leopard' (Il Gattopardo)?

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

General Lew Wallace wrote which book about the Roman Empire (which was later made into a Hollywood classic)?

Ben Hur

Which Pulitzer prize-winning American author wrote the Rabbit series of books?

John Updike

Which Shakespeare play concerns the two old friends Valentine and Proteus' love for the beautiful Julia?

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Which book, later made into a classic 40s film, would you find the villain 'Casper Gutman'?

The Maltese Falcon

In which famous novel would you find the character 'Dolores Haze'?

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

What is the name of the Harry Potter book to be published in June 2005?

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Mustardseed is a character from which Shakespeare play?

A Midsummer's Night Dream

In the New Testament, Zacharias was the father of whom?

John the Baptist

Whose first play is called 'Catalina'?

Henrik Ibsen

Which French poet born in 1821 was described by Rimbaud as 'The first seer, king of poets, a true god"?

Charles Baudelaire

For which Ministry did Winston Smith work in 1984?

The Ministry of Truth

In which book would you find the exceedingly strong drink called the 'Pan-galactic Gargle Blaster'?

The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

What is the name of the Eugene O'Neill play set in Harry Hope's bar?

The Iceman Cometh

Greater love hath no man than this.... . Complete.

...that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Bob Kane died on November 3rd 1998. What was he best known for?

He created Batman

Evidence suggests that one of Shakespeare's 'lost' plays was a comedy written as a companion piece to "Love's Labours Lost". What is the title of the lost play?

Love's Labours Won

Eye for eye, tooth for tooth. What follows?

Hand for hand, foot for foot. Exod. xxi, 24

How many lines are there in a sonnet?

Fourteen

How many syllables in Haiku?

Seventeen

In which book would you find a Hefalump?

Winnie the Pooh

Jane Austen had five brothers but only one sister. What was her name?

Cassandra

One of Shakespeare's tragedies is called "The Scottish Play" by superstitious actors. Which?

Macbeth

Ruritania is an imaginary country which was invented as a setting for two novels. Now the name is used to describe any state where the intrigues of a reactionary court dominate politics. Name either of the two books in which it first appeared.

The Prisoner of Zenda (1894) and its sequel: Rupert of Hentzau (1898), by Anthony Hope (1863-1933).

Several of Dickens' novels take their main character's name as their title: "Oliver Twist" or "David Copperfield" for example. Name the missing surname in "Martin...".

...Chuzzlewit

What did Professor Challenger bring back from the "Lost World" to prove that it existed?

A small pterodactyl

What is Sherlock Holmes' seven percent solution in "The Sign of Four"?

Cocaine

What is the last word in the New Testament?

Amen

What is the Rosy Crucifixion?

Sexus, Plexus, and Nexus, by Henry Miller

What new-born animal did Fern save from the hatchet?

A pig (in Charlotte's Web by E.B. White)

What were the "golden apples" of Greek mythology?

Apricots

Which American poet was brought back from Italy to the US in a cage in 1945?

Ezra Pound

Which British Prime Minister makes an appearance in "The London Embassy" by Paul Theroux?

Margaret Thatcher

Which French writer who later won the Goncourt Prize twice, fought as an RAF pilot in the Battle of Britain?

Romain Gary

Which Henry James novel was recently filmed by Jane Campion (of "The Piano" fame)?

The Portrait of a Lady

Which novel opens with this sentence "You don't know about me, without you have read a book by the name of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", but that ain't no matter".

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Which poem ends:
And you each gentle animal
to you for life may bind
and make it follow at your call
if you are always kind

Mary had a little lamb

Who is David John Cornwell better known as?

John Le Carré

Who is Karen Blixen better known as?

Isaak Dinesen

Who was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature?

Rabindranath Tagore in 1913

Who writes the "Discworld" novels?

Terry Pratchett

Who wrote The Threepenny Opera?

Bertolt Brecht (Die Dreigroschenoper, with music by Kurt Weill)

Who wrote:
The moving finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all your piety nor wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
Nor all your tears wash out a word of it.

Omar Khayyam (1048-1122)

The depiction of the Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland" reflected a poisoning of 19th century hatmakers from what?